Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
by AbbieDabbie
Summary: Rin had never really noticed his roommate, Aiichirou, before, but now that they are in different rooms and seeing less and less of each other, he can't seem to keep the younger boy out of his mind. As time goes by, he begins to realize that he might feel more than friendship for Ai. Rintori fluff. Yaoi- If you don't like it, don't read.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! **

**This is my very first Free! fanfiction! It takes place during Eternal Summer, I'm not entirely sure when. Enjoy!**

**Free! does not belong to me. **

Rin sat on his bunk looking at his phone in annoyance. It had been a few months since the room change, and in that time Ai had one texted him five times, called him three times, and come to his room four. Not that he was counting or anything, it was just strange. He had grown used to having the boy around him constantly, and now that he only saw him at practice or in passing during the day, he didn't quite know what to do. They didn't even eat together anymore. Now Nitori sat with his annoying new roommate, and hardly even glanced at Rin, and Rin didn't like it.

Sousuke coughed loudly, snapping Rin out of his thoughts. They were eating lunch and talking about the new training schedule Rin was planning for the team, but the sharks attention was somewhere else. He was looking across the room at a certain silver haired boy as he laughed at something Momotauro was doing. Tearinig his attention away from them, he said absentmindedly "What do you think they're talking about?" Sousuke glanced over at the young pair and raised an eyebrow "No idea. Does it matter?" Rin glanced over at them again before shaking his head and saying "No. I guess not." Sousuke studied him for a moment before shrugging off the strange behavior and went back to talking about swimming. Rin tried to pay attention, giving the occasional "hmm" and "uhuh", but his eyes continued to wander back to Nitori. Finally, Sousuke had had enough. He rolled his eyes and picked up his tray. "I'm going to get ready for practice. Come on, if you're not to busy staring at that second year." That got the swim team's captain's full attention. His face turned as red as his hair and he growled "Shut up.", his voice about an octave higher than usual. His friend laughed and walked away, leaving Rin alone to send one last look in his old roommate's direction before he got up to follow.

* * *

After practice that day, Rin spoke to his team to congratulate them on the good speeds and remind them that they would be picking people to swim the relay in a week. Everyone was walking away when he called out "Hey, Ai!" the second year turned around and smiled at Rin "Yes, Matsuoka Senpai?" For some reason Rin's face began to feel hot and his stomach flip-flopped. To hide his embarrassment, he turned his face to the side and scowled. "I told you just to call me Rin." he said, wincing at how harsh the words came out. If Nitori noticed, he didn't say anything. He just smiled and said "What did you want?" Rin thought for a moment. What _had _his reason been for calling Nitori over? Did he even have one? If he had, it had been forgotten the minute the silver haired boy had smiled at him (although why that was, Rin couldn't figure out). He stuttered for a moment before saying "I just, um, wanted to say...er... good job. You know, today. In...um...you know... swimming." He could have slapped himself. Why did he have to sound like such an idiot? Ai's face lit up and he practically bounced up and down. "Thank you, Senpai!" he said happily. "Whatever." Rin said, the harsh tone back in his voice. "See you later." He practically sprinted back to his room, getting there out of breath and still in his swimsuit since he had forgotten to change.

He closed the door with a heavy sigh and walked into the bathroom to shower. What had that been about? Not only had he made himself look like a complete idiot, he also ran off and left Ai standing there alone and probably incredibly confused as to why he was acting so strangely. Rin wished he could figure it out himself. Why was it that recently every time he had talked to Nitori, he felt embarrassed and nervous? Why did he get butterflies in his stomach whenever Nitori was nearby? And why in the name of swimming couldn't he get him out of his head? As he climbed into the shower, Rin sighed. It was a complete mystery.

**And that's all for chapter one! I don't know why I write Rin as such an idiot, but I feel like he's not very in touch with his emotions and would be extremely confused about things like crushes. I'm going to alternate the focus character back and forth, so next chapter will be more Ai centered. **

**Please leave a review, and thanks for reading:)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello!**

**This chapter is all about Nitori, enjoy:)**

**If I owned Free!, Reigisa, MakoHaru and Rintori would be canon. But I don't, so they're not.**

Aiichirou Nitori dragged himself back to his room after a late practice and flopped onto his bed without even bothering to change. On nights like this, he was glad not to have to attempt the ladder, as he wasn't sure he would be able to even haul himself up the first few rungs.

Ai pulled his phone out of his pocket and, with a glance at the time (12:30. He was lucky he hadn't been caught, or he would be in big trouble for breaking curfew), set his alarm for 6:00. As he was putting his phone away, he wondered briefly whether he should text Rin, but pushed the idea away. The upperclassman had enough on his plate without having to deal with Nitori, and he was probably already asleep, anyway. These past few months, Ai had tried to stay out of Rin's way as much as possible, because he knew his clinginess had bothered the older boy in the past and thought he would probably be grateful for the space between them. Ai closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. Of course, those weren't the _only _reasons for this separation. He had tried to push it out of his mind, tried to forget and move on, but the unfortunate fact remained: Nitori was in love with Rin.

It had started almost a year ago, this strange feeling that had infected Aiichirou. It began small, noticing his Sempai in a new way, not being able to stop a blush from spreading over his face when their hands accidentally touched, and quickly escalated until the redheaded swimmer was all he ever thought about. It really did feel like a disease, the way his stomach flipped when Rin was nearby, his palms sweat and his face heated, and many times he had wished there was some sort of medicine he could take to make it go away. He hated feeling this way about Rin. He felt that by harboring this secret crush, not only had he betrayed his friend's trust, but also condemned himself to misery. Rin would never love him back, so why did his heart insist on pursuing this stupid fantasy? It only led him to further heartbreak, so what was the point? But despite knowing this, Ai could not stop his feelings for Rin, and it was made even more difficult by the fact that the shark seemed to go out of his way to be perfect. Just today he had pulled Ai aside after practice and complimented his swimming, and Ai had thought he might die from happiness. His heart had gone a million miles a minute and his face had turned bright red; it was a miracle he hadn't been found out yet when he acted like that every time Rin talked to him. If Rin would just leave him alone, he could probably completely shake these bothersome emotions.

Ai shook these thoughts from his head and closed his eyes, trying desperately to find sleep. This had become a ritual at night, thinking about Rin and keeping himself up worrying. Finally, after almost an hour of tossing and turning, he fell into a restless sleep, where images of sharks and red hair invaded his dreams.

**This chapter didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to... The next one will be better. Please review, and thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi! This chapter was hard to write (I kind of used the last of my ideas in the last one...), but I finished it, so here you go. Enjoy!**

**I don't own Free!**

"I mean, it's not like I care or anything, but they shouldn't be spending this much time together. Momotarou is a bad influence on Ai. Did you hear that joke he told the other day? It was awful, and poor Ai just sat there, smiling politely. He really is too nice. I bet even if he didn't want to hang out with that brat, he would keep doing it anyway, just to keep from hurting Momo's feelings. That's just the kind of person he is, you know? And I don't want him to be corrupted by that little idiot! Besides, it's not like they're really all that close, right? They're just roommates, that's it. And why the hell does he need to spend so much time with him, anyway. We're WAY closer than he and Momo are, so why doesn't he ever come over here. Not that I want him to. Well, I mean I don't _not _want him to, I just don't really care either way. Well, I care, but not that much, you know? It's not like it's really all that important to me what Ai's doing or who he's hanging out with. But I still don't think he should be hanging out with Momo so much. Of course, I don't really care, but-"

Rin's ramble was interrupted by the sound of Sousuke's fist hitting the desk. He looked over at his roommate, startled by the sudden noise, and saw that Sousuke was hunched over, fist clenched and face dark. "Rin, shut up." he said through clenched teeth. The shark huffed indignantly "What? Why?" Sousuke let out an aggravated snort.

"Why? _Why?_ Why the hell do you think, you idiot? You've been talking about Nitori constantly since before the relay, and it's really pissing me off!"

"Well, fine. If you don't like it, I guess I won't talk anymore!"

"GOOD!"

"GOOD!"

Sousuke stared at Rin angrily for a moment, before rolled his eyes and sighed. "Look. If you want to talk to him that badly, just go ahead and do it. I was supposed to coach him tonight at eight, how about you go instead and tell him I wasn't feeling well. If that works out, maybe you can start coaching him weekly. That way you can talk to him AND stop bugging me." Rin sat silently, staring at his feet. Then, with a quick glance at the clock, he got up and headed towards the door. As he left, he yelled back "I don't want to talk to him _that _badly." Sousuke just laughed.

* * *

Oh god. This had been a bad idea. In fact, not only was it a bad idea, it was probably the worst idea ever known to man. Why had he thought he could just stroll in and talk to Ai? The whole thing was doomed from the very moment he had walked in he door. Nitori, already in the pool (_"and looking amazing"_ a strange little part of his brain whispered, which he promptly decided to ignore) looked up at him in confusion and said "Rin Senpai, what are you doing here?" Rin felt heat rising to his cheeks, although there was no real reason for it, and mumbled out something along the lines of "Sousuke... sick...coaching...?" before turning away to hide his embarrassment. "Oh." Nitori said, an unreadable look on his face. Was he disappointed? Why would he be? What did Sousuke have Rin didn't? Besides, he had known Ai longer, so he had first claims to friendship with the second year. A strange feeling of jealousy fluttered in his heart at the thought of Ai and his roommate here at the pool, alone. He immediately wanted to reach out and hold onto the younger boy, yelling loud enough for the whole world to hear "MINE!" Which was ridiculous, because Nitori was not his at all. _  
_

As he mulled over all of this, Aiicirou stood patiently in the pool, waiting for some sign to begin. Finally, Rin snapped back to reality and the coaching session began. It was fairly quiet, aside from the occasional tip or compliment from Rin and the splashing and heavy breathing from Nitori. When they were finished, Rin leaned down almost automatically and helped the younger boy out of the pool, just as Ai had hundreds of times before. "Good job today." He said with a smile "Your times are really improving, and I can see you're getting stronger." Ai grinned so wide it was a wonder his face didn't crack and he forgot himself as he rushed forward excitedly to give Rin a tight hug "Thank you so much, senpai!" he said happily.

Rin didn't say anything. He stood, stiff as a board and felt the temperature in the room rise to uncomfortable levels. Finally, he made a weird, half strangled yelp half cough noise, and Ai seemed to realize just what he was doing. "Oh! I'm sorry, Captain. I mean, Matsuoka senpai, er, Rin Senpai." he spluttered. The thing Rin wanted most in the entire world was to reach out and pull Nitori tenderly to him, to hold him until the night faded into day and the day turned back to night, to never let him go. But the awkward atmosphere kept him from moving, and instead, the pair stood in silence until Rin cleared his throat and said in a hollow, scratchy voice "...Curfew?"

"Right. Um... I'll see you tomorrow at practice, I guess." Nitori said, looking very interested in his shoes. Rin nodded and made a beeline to the door, not daring to look back.

**These two are such idiots! I would like to thank my friend, the morbidbookworm, for giving me the idea not only for this chapter, but for the next one, too. She is the best!**

**In the next chapter, Nitori and Rin go hang out with the Iwatobi gang! See you next water time;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! This chapter is from Ai's point of view. Enjoy**

**I don't own Free! **

"AI-CHAAAN!"

Aiichirou braced himself as the bubbly blonde swimmer from Iwatobi tackled him with a hug. Disentangling himself, Ai sighed and said "Nagisa-kun, please don't call me that." Nagisa looked up at him and pouted "But Ai-can-"

"No."

"Nagisa, get off of him! Such behavior is not beautiful!" Rei shouted as he and the other members of the Iwatobi club walked towards them. Makoto laughed quietly and gave an apologetic smile to Ai. "Hello, Aiichirou-kun." He said politely "It's nice to see you." Ai smiled back. He was about to respond, when things were interrupted by Haruka tearing off his clothes and diving into the pool, despite Makoto's protests.

Practice began, complete with a relay against Iwatobi (Samezuka won, but just barely), and soon it was time for their rival team to go home. Ai sighed heavily. He was exhausted from practice (and from dealing with Nagisa- that guy was quite a handful), and wanted nothing more than to climb into his bed and fall asleep. He was just about to leave, when the blonde swimmer came up behind him and gave him a big bear hug. "Ai-chan!" he said excitedly "We're all going to get together at Haru-chan's house! Wanna come?" Ai looked around nervously. It might be fun to hang out with Rin's friends, but he didn't want to intrude. He shook his head "I'm sorry, I have to study for a test tonight. maybe some other time?" Nagisa pouted "Come on, Ai-chan! It'll be fun!"

"Please don't call me that. And I'm sorry, but-"

"Hey Ai!"

Ai looked around to see Rin standing with the rest of the Iwatobi team by the door. He smiled slightly at Ai and said "Well? Are you coming or not?" with Rin and is friends all watching him, Ai felt his nerve crumble. He took a deep breath and sighed "All right. I guess I could study tomorrow." Nagisa cheered and pulled him out the door before he could change his mind.

* * *

Aiichirou sat quietly, slightly apart from everyone else. They had had a good time, eating mackerel made by Haru, talking and laughing at Nagisa's wild antics, and now he had drawn back to watch, comfortable and full, and too exhausted to take part in the conversations around him. Nagisa was teasing Rei, which was causing the butterfly swimmer to adjust his glasses angrily and give long-winded speeches about beauty, and Haruka and Rin were talking about swimming. Despite himself, Ai felt his gaze lingering on Rin. The redhead was laughing loudly at something Haru had said, and Ai felt the slightest twinge of jealously. Rin never acted as happy and carefree with him a he did with Haru. Ai wished that he would.

"Aiichirou?" A soft voice startled him out of his thoughts, and he reddened as he realized he'd been watching Rin so intently he hadn't even noticed when Makoto sat down next to him. "Makoto!" he said, trying desparately to keep the embarrassment out of his voice "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." Makoto studied his face calmly for a moment before turning to look at Rin. "Does he know?" he asked quietly, causing Ai to flush even darker and feel panic well up inside him "I-I don't... What d-do you mean? Does wh-who know what?" Makoto looked at him gently, the look on his face answering Ai's questions. Ai deflated slightly, looking down at his feet. "No." He said softly "I haven't told him. How did you figure it out?" Makoto smiled "It was the expression you had when you looked at him. It was clear that you really care."

Ai nodded silently, wondering what the gentle giant would do now. He felt his heart jump into his throat as he thought _"What if he tells?"_ Makoto seemed to read his mind. "Don't worry." he said "Your secret is safe with me. You might want to think about telling him yourself, though. It might make you feel better"

"What?! No way!" Makoto raised an eyebrow at the adamantly negative response, waiting patiently for Ai to explain himself. "I know he doesn't like me, it would just make things awkward between us. I don't want to lose his friendship over some stupid crush." Makoto stared at him for a moment, green eyes unreadable. Then he looked back at Rin. The captain of the Samezuka team glanced over at them, then turned away again in embarrassment when his eyes locked with Nitori's. The Iwatobi backstroke swimmer smiled in amusement. "I don't think you'd lose his friendship." he said "In fact, I think you just might realize he feels the same way." Ai felt his eyes widen and his heart beat faster. Could Makoto be right? Could Rin feel the same way? He had fantasized about that thousands of times, but never even dared to hope that it could be true. Looking over at Rin again, seeing his face, clouded over with some unknown annoyance, Ai shook the thought from his head. Makoto may have guessed correctly about his feelings, but he was definitely wrong about this. There was no way Rin felt the same, Ai would have figured it out long ago if he did.

**Next time, Rin's conversation with Haru. Please leave a review, and thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own free! **

Rin walked past his room and towards the pool. He needed to clear his head before he could sleep, and swimming was the one thing that really calmed him down. The night had started well, but it had gone downhill quickly, and he felt as though he was minutes away from snapping and going on a rampage. He snarled. Stupid Ai for acting so sweet and kind and wonderful on the walk home, stupid weather for raining and forcing them to walk, huddled close together under one umbrella, and stupid Haru for making him think about all this stuff in the first place!

He reached the deserted pool area and stripped off his outer clothes (hanging out with Haru so much had had its affect on him; he was wearing his swimsuit underneath), feeling the tension he had been carrying in his shoulders abruptly release as he dived into the water. Swimming the length of the pool, he let his mind wander back to the events of the evening.

He had sat down next to Haruka after dinner and began to talk about training techniques he was using at Samezuka, interested in the freestyle swimmer's opinion. But no sooner had he began to speak than Haru raised a hand for silence. "What is it?" Rin asked. Haruka turned slowly and stared at him for a moment or to, before saying in a rather uninterested sounding voice "You like Nitori." Rin gaped at him. After he had recovered from his state of shock, he through his head back, laughing a little too loud. "Of course not!" he said with a grin, hoping his ears weren't as red as they felt "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I don't like him at all. Well, I mean I like him, but not like _that_. As a friend. I like him in a friendly, platonic way. I mean, how did you even come up with something like that? It's just so insane. We're just friends! I don't..." He stopped his ramble, unable to continue under the pressure of his friend's stare. "Would you stop giving me that look?!" He said, crossing his arms and sending Haru his best death-glare back. Unfazed, the Iwatobi swimmer simply nodded and said "You like him."

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do."

"I don't!"

"Do."

"I don't!"

"Do."

"No. I. DON'T!" Haru said nothing, again fixing his eyes on Rin's. They continued this staring contest for a minute or two, but soon Rin couldn't handle it anymore. He hunched over and looked to the side, grumbling "So what if I do?" Haru sighed and looked over his shoulder towards Makoto and Ai, who appeared to be deep in conversation. Rolling his eyes, he turned back to Rin and said "What are you going to do about it?"

"Huh?"

Haru huffed in annoyance "You like him. What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing." this response prompted another huff and an eye roll. "Well, you have to do something. The way you're acting is annoying. Just tell him and get it over with."  
Rin growled "Listen, Haru. I-"

"Rin, I really don't care about whatever stupid reason you have not to talk to him. It's obvious you like him and he likes you, so just do something!" The redhead froze. "He- he likes me?" another eye roll

"Obviously."

Rin looked over at Aiichirou, and their eyes met. Embarrassed, he looked away, feeling blood rush to his cheeks. "He doesn't like me back." he said, more to himself than to Haru "There's no way he could like me back. And even if he did, what could I do? How would I tell him?" Haru thought for a moment before responding "Buy him some mackerel."  
"Haru! That's not a good answer at all! How would mackerel help?" A serious expression on his face, Haru said "Mackerel always helps." The two argued back and forth until Makoto calmly stepped in, announcing that Rin and Nitori needed to leave now if they wanted to get back to Samezuka Academy before curfew. They said quick goodbyes (each receiving a long hug from Nagisa) and began the walk home, when of course it started to rain. And of course Rin had forgotten to bring an umbrella, causing Ai to offer to share his, which led to Rin stuttering and blushing the entire way home, nervous because of the close proximity.

Floating in the pool, he let out a long, heavy sigh. He was getting tired of feeling stupid and embarrassed. Maybe he should just tell Ai and get it over with, whether his feelings were returned or not. And besides, maybe Haru had been right about everything (except the mackerel) and Ai really did like him back. As he hauled himself out of the pool, he nodded to himself, deciding that he would tell Ai first thing tomorrow.

**They will be getting together soon, I promise! Please leave a review, and thanks for reading:) **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! I am _so _sorry that I took so long to write this chapter! Things have been kind of hectic lately, and I haven't had the chance. But enough of my lame excuses, onto the story. Enjoy:) **

**I don't own Free**

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP"

Somewhere deep in Ai's subconscious, he heard the blaring of his alarm clock, but rather than turn it off, he snuggled in deeper under the covers and threw the pillow over his head. There was no reason to get early on a Saturday, anyway. He didn't have school, and the cafeteria didn't open until later. He could relax until it was time to go to...

SWIM PRACTICE! Ai sat bolt upright and stared at the clock. It was 8:35, five minutes _after_ practice began. He dove out of bed in a panic, fell flat on his face, and scrambled to locate his swimsuit. Once it was on, he flew down the hallway, goggles in his hands. How had he forgotten practice? He was always there at least ten minutes early, what would Rin think of him now? If only he hadn't stayed up so late last night, mulling over what Makoto had said to him, this never would have happened. _Oh well _he thought as he raced towards the pool _I'll just have to work extra hard today to make up for arriving late. _Ai burst through the doors to see...

Noone. The pool was entirely deserted. Nitori bent over to catch his breath. What was going on? Had something happened to the team? Or what if today was actually a joint practice at another school and they had already left? Or-

"What are you doing here?"

Ai jumped and whipped around. Rin had just come out of the locker room.

"R-rin-Senpai!" I panted, still not fully recovered from his mad dash to the swimming pool "I was just... Isn't their...?" He trailed off. Rin stared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes. "Don't you remember? There is no practice today. I told everyone last week AND reminded you yesterday."

Oh. Right. Ai blushed and looked at Rin with wide eyes. The captain just smiled and shook his head. "Well, it's good you came, anyway." He said in a voice that sounded almost... shy? But that was crazy. The captain wasn't shy. Ai must have been imagining things. "I actually kind of wanted to talk to you."

"Oh. What do you want to talk about, Rin- Senpai?" Rin opened his mouth to speak, and no sound came out. He stood, gaping for a moment before turning his head away, suddenly bright red. Now this, Ai wasn't imaging. He immediately began to worry about what could be wrong. Frowning slightly, he stepped a little closer. "Senpei?" He asked carefully "Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? I have no reason to be anything but fine. Why would you think I wasn't fine? Did someone say something about me being... not fine? Because if they did, they were lying, 'cause I am perfectly fine. See? Fine."

All through this strange speech, Rin seemed to be edging away from Nitori and becoming even more red, which caused Ai to worry more and more. Following Rin, he reached out gently "Senpai are you running a fever? You look really red." This only caused Rin to back up faster. "I'm not red or... um... fevery. I told you I'm fine."

"Just let me check and make sure you don't have a fever."

"Ai, I said I was fine." Rin continued to move backwards. Straight towards the pool.

"Senpai-"

"I'm fine!"

"Alright, but Senpai-"

"Ai, don't worry about me!"

"But-"

"No."

"Rin."

"I'M FINE!"

"LOOK OUT!"

Ai's warning came to late. Rin took a final step back and went crashing into the water.

"RIN-SENPAI!" Ai ran forward, reaching the edge just in time to see his friend resurface. Once he was sure the redhead had suffered no real injury, Ai began to smile. Then he began to giggle. Then he let loose a loud laugh that echoed through the empty building. Rin looked up at him from his spot in the pool "Are you laughing at me?" He said in a voice that was meant to be menacing, but ended up sounding rather comical. Ai struggled to catch his breath "I'm sorry Senpai" he said between giggles "You just looked so..." And with that he doubled over again, clutching his sides.

"Oh really?"

Ai nodded, unable to speak because he was laughing so hard.

"Well then, you'll probably think this is funny, too!" And with that, Rin grabbed his ankle and dragged him into the pool.

Ai burst from the water, gasping. He looked over at Rin, who was grinning like a maniac, and splashed him as hard as he could. Rin splashed him back, and soon they were having an all out war in the shallow end. After almost ten minutes of this Ai, breathing heavily and still laughing, raised his hands in truce.

"So." Ai said after they had both calmed down "What was it you wanted to tell me?" Rin swam a bit closer and took a deep breath "Ai." He said, his voice seeming to shake slightly "Um. I've been thinking. And I know that this sounds stupid but..."

Ai suddenly couldn't take his eyes off of the shark. Rin was turning as red as Nitori felt, and he began to wonder if this was all just a dream (that wouldn't be too surprising. He had had this dream before many times). It looked like Rin was about to say-

"Would you time me? I need to get ready for the freestyle race."

"Oh." That wasn't exactly what Ai had been expecting, and he felt like he had just come crashing painfully back down to earth. He swam towards the edge of the pool, trying to hide his embarrassment and disappointment. "Of course I will, Rin-Senpai? Why would that sound stupid?" He reached the edge of the pool, but rather than grabbing his watch and coming back, he just kept walking. "Actually, do you think we could do this another time?" He said, never looking back "I'm not feeling too well."

"Yeah, sure. That would be-"

"Ok. Bye!" Ai ran for the door. On the walk back to his room, he wiped at his eyes furiously with the back of his hand. This was ridiculous. He shouldn't care. After all, he knew Rin didn't like him that way, so why had he gotten his hopes up? There was no way anything could ever happen between them.

**That ending was really annoying to write! They will be getting together in either the next chapter or the one after that, though, so there will be no more silly misunderstandings. After that, I may or may not continue this story. I have a few ideas for dates and such, but I kind of want to end it right when they get together. **

**Because I've been so horrible about getting chapters up this past week, I will be attempting to post two tomorrow, but they might come kind of late. Thank you for reading:) **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi all! This chapter is fairly short, but the next one is longer and will be up by the end of today! Enjoy:) **

**I don't own Free**

Rin flopped down onto his bed with a loud groan. _"Would you time me?"_?! Why on earth had he said that? He had been all set to confess, but then stupid Ai had looked at him with those big, beautiful eyes and he had lost his nerve. Now he may never get the chance to tell Aiichirou how he really felt. He closed his eyes, half hoping that he was having a bad dream and all he had to do was wake up and everything would be better. How could he have been so stupid? Ai had been right there, and if Rin hadn't gone and screwed everything up, he would know how he felt by now.

Rin was pulled out of his self-pity by the loud buzzing of his phone. It was Gou, probably just calling to check up on him (she did so every few days). He answered the phone with a sigh. Why couldn't everyone just leave him alone so he could wish for the world to end in peace.

"Hi Gou." He said sadly. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" Her reply came so loud that he had to hold the phone away from his ear. "I'm in my room. Why?" He could practically feel the glare she was almost definitely giving him. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"Forgot what?"

"Rin, I've been sitting around waiting for you for HALF AN HOUR! You said we could meet up today!" Right. As if his day couldn't get any worse. Babbling an apology to Gou, he rushed around the room getting ready and ran out the door.

* * *

Gou burst into laughter. "You said WHAT?" Rin clenched his fists and tried desperately to stay calm. He never should have told his little sister about this, she was never going to let him forget it. "I know, it was stupid." He said with a groan. "And now I'll never be able to ask him out!" Gou's laughter stopped abruptly and she jumped to her feet, looking down at him with her hands on her hips. "Don't say that, Onii-chan!" She said "You have to do this! Your muscles and Ai's muscles are meant to be together!" Rin stared at her, wondering (not for the first time) if she had completely lost her mind. "I tried to tell him and it didn't work. I'm not going to try again. He probably doesn't like me, anyway."

"If you don't tell him, I WILL!" Rin froze. Slowly recovering, he shook his head and said, his voice barely above a whisper, "You wouldn't." Gou pulled out her phone dramatically and began to punch in Nitori's number "I would."

"Gou. Stop."

"Only if you promise to tell him by the end of the week."

"No way!"

"Two numbers to go." Rin dove for her phone, but Gou ducked under his arm and continued to dial. "Please, Kou." He said, making sure to use the name she preferred (something he only did when he really needed something). She ignored his begging and held the cellphone to her ear. "It's ringing!" Finally, Rin gave in. Slumping his shoulders and heaving a large, overdramatic sigh, he said "Fine. You win." Gou grinned and hung up.

"You have a week." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. "If you haven't told him by then, I will."

Rin growled. Little siblings could be so infuriating.

**Next chapter they're getting together. Please Leave a review, and thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here it is, they're finally getting together. Enjoy!  
**

**I don't own Free**

"I'm heading back to the room. Are you coming?" Momotarou startled Ai out of his trance. He had been casually glancing (Alright, staring) at Rin for the past few minutes, and had gotten lost in thought. "No." he said, slowly tearing his gaze away from the captain of the Samezuka swim team to look at his roommate "I think I'm going to stay and practice a bit longer."  
"Ok! Bye!" And with that, the underclassman tore off down the hall like he had been shot out of a canon, humming something about beetles. _"That kid has way too much energy." _Ai thought, rolling his eyes and suppressing a smile. He walked back over towards the pool, setting his towel down and diving in. He tried to focus on shaving a few seconds off of his time, but he couldn't really focus. His mind was still on Rin, it had been since they had last met in the pool six days ago, the last time they talked privately. Since then, they had been doing everything possible to avoid each other. So it was rather startling to Ai when he burst out of the water to see Rin, dangling his feet in and watching him. "You're time is really improving, Ai." he said quietly. Ai blushed, but couldn't help the smile that spread across his face at his Senpai's praise. "T-thank you!" He stammered, suddenly extremely nervous.

Rin studied him for a second, then slumped forward and sighed. "Rin-Senpai!" Ai said, rushing forward "What's wrong?" Rin waved Ai away and looked up, a strange look on his face. Ai was about to ask again, when Rin began to speak.

"Three months." He said, glancing around the abandoned room. Ai looked up at him, extremely confused. "Senpai, what-"

"That's when I finally figured out... how I felt. I figured I might as well tell you now, since Gou was going to tomorrow, anyway." Ai felt like time had stopped and his mind had gone numb. The only plausible explanation he could think of was that he had misheard. Or maybe he misunderstood, he had thought Rin had been saying something along these lines last time, and he had been mistaken then. That was probably all it was. At least, he thought that was all it was until Rin slid into the and walked towards him. "Ai," he said, his eyes locked with Nitori's "I- um- I'm in love with you."

* * *

Rin had hoped that after his big confession, Ai would proclaim his feelings as well and they would kiss as the music swelled in the background (he may have been watching to many movies with Gou), or at least that he would let him down gently. Instead, the boy he loved made a sound like a strangled cat and went under the water. Unsure of what the appropriate response to that would be, Rin stood there, rooted to the spot, staring at the place Ai had been a moment ago. The seconds stretched on like hours, and he began to wonder if Ai was planning on staying on the pool floor until he left. Then, finally, he reappeared, gasping for air.

"Are you ok, Ai?" Rin asked, unsure of what exactly was going on. Ai just stared at him and then took a deep breath, preparing to go back under. Before he could escape again, Rin grabbed his arm, the worry on his face slowly turning into pain and sadness. "Ai. If you don't feel the same way, just say so." Ai looked up at him and opened his mouth, but didn't say anything. Rin nodded and began to walk away. "Right." he said "Sorry I said anything."

"No, Rin-"

* * *

"- Wait!" Ai went after Rin, finally finding his voice. Since Rin had said... _that_, he had been panicking. He had wanted this for so long and now, he just couldn't think of the right words. He felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes and started talking "Don't go. Please don't go. Because if you do, then-then... I don't know. That will mean this was just a dream, and I don't want it to be a dream." He babbled on, unable to stop "I'm sorry, this was just so unexpected, and I've wanted it for so long, and now here you are and you're saying all these things I've been waiting to hear, and I- I don't know what I'm supposed to say." He paused to take a breath and wiped at his eyes (although he couldn't figure out why he was crying), then looked into Rin's eyes. "Rin-Senpai, I have loved you since the first day we met. And I never thought that this moment would come and-"

The rest of his words were lost as Rin rushed forward, catching him in a kiss. And all of the sudden there was nothing and no one else in the world except for Rin. All Ai could feel was his hands holding him securely, his heart beating, his mouth, pressed against Ai's. And he hoped the kiss would never end.

**This is not the end! I'm going to post a new chapter tomorrow:) Please leave a review, and thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! Only two or three more chapters after this, those should be up sometime this week.**

**I don't own free**

It was Rin who finally broke the kiss, and he wished he hadn't. While Ai had been in his arms, there were fireworks and every sensation had felt intensified. Now, he began to feel emotions he had been able to get rid of creeping back. eyes locked with Aiichirou's, he started to feel like the same old awkward teen, still uncomfortable in his own skin. He blushed and looked down, doubting his ability to form complete sentences. He let his hands drop from the younger boy's back with a breathy laugh and took a step back, still looking down. "Um... well, yeah." He said lamely. "That was... yeah." although he had been the one to initiate the kiss, he felt entirely unprepared and his brain was slowly turning to pudding. "So... you like me?" Ai hit his arm gently. "I just said I did. And why would I have kissed you if I didn't."

"Good point." He finally looked up at Ai. "What does this mean? I mean, are we... you know." Ai laughed awkwardly "I honestly don't know." He said, and Rin's heart started to sink. Then Nitori reached out and took hold of his hands "But I know I can't live without you." They kissed again, slowly and softly, just getting lost in one another. So lost, they didn't hear the door open, and Momotarou yell "Captain! Aiichirou-Senpai! Are you in here?" then the loud gasp that he let out when saw them. So lost that they didn't here Sousuke say "Come on you idiot." and drag him away. They were only jolted back into reality when a smirking Sousuke let the door slam loudly behind him. "What was that?" Ai asked, not loosening his grip on Rin's hands. Rin shrugged, glabcing around the pool area. Turning his attention back to Ai, he took a deep breath and stammered "Um, I-I was wondering, if, you know, if you wanted to, we could- um- what I'm trying to say is that maybe we could-" Ai cut him off with a chaste kiss. "We could go out sometime?" He asked, his eyes shining. "Yes! I mean, you know, if you wanted to."

"How about tomorrow night?" Rin stared at him. When had Nitori gotten so brave? He grinned, at least one of them was. If it was left up to him, he probably would have stood there all night babbling like an idiot. "I'll pick you up at you're room around seven." Ai's face lit up so bright, Rin practically needed sunglasses "Ok, Rin-Senpai! I'll see you then!" And with one more quick kiss, he jumped out of the pool, speed-walked to the locker room and was gone, leaving Rin standing alone in the shallow end. For a moment, he stood there dazed, trying to process the nights events. Then, he jumped into the air and yelled "YES!", swam a lap around the pool and raced back to his room, the whole time unable to shake the grin from his face.

* * *

Sousuke raised an eyebrow at Rin as he entered the room, still grinning wildly. "Someone had fun." He said with a chuckle, causing his roommate to turn red. "W-what do you mean? I was just, er, going over some things from practice."

"And Ai was helping you?"

"How did you-"

"I was there."

At the panicked look on Rin's face, Sousuke burst out laughing. "Don't worry, I'm not going to pester you about it." Rin was just beginning to relax again when he said "But Momotarou might."

**Next time: Ai and Momo talking, Ai getting ready for the big date, and general insanity! Please leave a review, and thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I AM _SO_ SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! **

**I am an absolutely horrible person! I have about a billion excuses, but none of them are all that great, so I'll just cut to the chase. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen I present the chapter that I should have posted weeks ago but didn't because I'm a lazy idiot! **

**I don't own Free! **

Aiichirou practically skipped back to his his room that night. He wanted to run through the halls, screaming his head off, but it was long past curfew, so he contained his joy as much as possible. Rin had _kissed_ him! And not only that, they were going on a date! Ai still had trouble believing that, and it was harder still to wrap his mind around the fact that it had been _he_ who had asked _Rin. _He wasn't really sure how that had happened, he blushed just _thinking_ about asking his senpai out. Yet here he was, his first date less than 24 hours away. Ai was sure he would never be able to frown again.

When Aiichirou reached his room, he paused for a moment to calm himself. He didn't want his roommate waking up and asking questions. Momotarou was a good friend, but he was also very loud and very noisy, and Ai wasn't so sure he wanted all of Samezuka to know this particular bit of gossip just yet. Not that he was at all ashamed, he just wanted a little time to settle down before their relationship went public, mainly because he wasn't entirely sure what that relationship was. He was fairly certain Rin was his boyfriend now (the very idea of that made Ai grin a little wider), but he wanted to really know what they were to each other before telling Momo (because telling Momo was pretty much the same thing as telling the entire world).

The door creaked open quietly, and Ai crept into the dark room. He was just about to slip out of his clothes and into bed, when the lights snapped on, revealing a grinning Momotarou. Ai didn't typically swear, but the string of words he let out then would be enough to make even Rin blush.

"What are you... Why...?" He stammered, heart beating fast. Then he pouted out his lower lip and grumbled "Idiot. You really scared me." His roommate just threw his head back and laughed. Then he leaned forward and said with a terrifying smile "How was your night?" Ai blinked, wondering if it was at all possible that Momo somehow knew. Then he shook the thought away, dismissing this behavior as just typical weird Momo behavior. He turned and started to change into his pajamas. "Fine, until I got back to my room and was scared half to death. What are you still doing up, anyway?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"You're just a first year, don't question upperclassmen." for a minute, Momo was quiet and Ai thought the conversation was over, but then the backstroke swimmer whispered something that made him turn his head so fast he practically got whip lash and gasp for air like a beached fish.

"Did you have fun with Rin?" When Ai had somewhat recovered, he stared at the younger boy, jaw hanging open. "But, but how do you-"

"Sousuke and Ai were there."

Ai groaned. Of course they were. Anything else would have been too easy. "Alright." he sighed "I might as well tell you, since you probably already figured it out. Rin and I are... well, we're not exactly dating _yet,_ but I... um... asked him out and he said yes." As he talked, Ai felt his face grow hotter and hotter. How would his friend react? Would he be alright with it? Momotarou just laughed "I _KNEW_ you liked him! I'm just surprised you had the guts to tell him. Ai let out a faint giggle. "I was pretty obvious, wasn't I?"

"Completely. You were constantly talking about him. I don't think we've ever ad a conversation where you didn't say 'Rin said this' or 'Did you know that Rin could do this?' or 'I remember when Rin...' He was all you ever thought about!"

"I'm not sure about that."

"It's true. You were all," he paused for a moment, bugging his eyes and smiling happily. When he spoke again, he was doing a rather poor impression of Ai "'I think that Rin-Senpai is the smartest, coolest, funniest, nicest, bravest guy in the entire world! He's so strong and handsome! I love him _soooooo _much!"

Ai rolled his his eyes and tried to hide his embarrassment, even though he could feel his ears turning bright red. "I never said that." he mumbled. "Come on," said Momo "You worshipped him. When I first got here, I assumed you two were already dating."

Nitori coughed to his embarrassment. "Alright, whatever." he said, with a slightly forced smile "Just promise me something, OK?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Don't tell anyone. At least, not until we have our first date." Suddenly, the otter saw something interesting on the ceiling. "Momotarou?" Ai said slowly, "Is everything all right?"

"S-sure it is. Wow, look at the time! We should probably get to bed. This was a fun talk, goodnight!" As the redhead rushed to climb the ladder to the top bunk, Ai reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt. "Momotarou?" he said, in a voice more menacing than he had even thought possible "What did you do?"

"Well, when we left the pool after seeing... you know... Sousuke told me not to say anything. But then when I got back, my brother called, and I had to tell him." Ai sighed. "All right, I guss that's fine-"

"And then I had my phone in my hand, so I figured I should probably text some of the guys on the swim team."

"How many?"

"Just a few."

"_HOW MANY?"_

"...All of them." It took all the will power Ai had not to punch the little idiot. Closing his eyes and letting his hands drop to his sides, he said "Anyone else?"

"Well..."

"Momo?"

"Just a couple of guys in my class, Gou, and the Iwatobi Swim club."

"Is there anyone you DIDN"T tell?!"

"I didn't say anything to the coach..."

"Ok-"

"But I did send a text to his son that used to be in my class, andI'm pretty sure he said something." Ai sat down on his bed. _Oh, well. _He thought _At least I won't have to worry about how to tell everyone. _To Momo, he said "Alright. I'm not mad. Just try not to text the details of my private life to everyone in Japan again, ok?"

"I didn't text everyone in-"

"Goodnight."

Momo scampered up the ladder and into bed, leaving Ai to turn off the light and flop down on his bed. Nervously, he pulled out his phone, and saw that it was flooded with texts telling him that it was about time and giving congratulations, and a concerned text (although it was more like a letter) from Makoto telling him that Momotarou had texted and he wasn't sure whether Ai knew and wanted him to be telling people, then happily saying "I told you so.", and asking if he needed any advice on the upcoming date (no one had actually told him that, he had just guessed). Finally, he saw a single text from Rin: "I'm gonna kill Mikoshiba." Ai texted back "Don't. He's an idiot, but he didn't want to hurt us. He just made a mistake." A few minutes passed, then a reply came.

"That doesn't change the fact I got a text from pretty much every one I've ever met tonight."

"I know. I did too, but I think he already feels pretty awful. Go easy on him."

The reply took a few minutes, and when it did come, Ai could practically see Rin sighng in exasperation.

"Fine."

He grinned, thinking of the face Rin was almost definitely making right now. It was the face he made whenever Ai talked him out of something. He would bare his shark teeth and huff, then sigh loudly and over-dramatically while roll his eyes and pouting slightly.

"I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow."

"See you. And Ai?"

"What is it?"

"I really meant what I said tonight. I love you."

Ai felt his heart flutter, and he blushed as he texted

"I love you too."

* * *

Rin woke up early the next day, even though he didn't really have to. There was no school, no practice, no reason to leave his room until...

Until his date with Ai.

Just thinking about it sent a wave of excitement through him. He jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and hair. Then he began rummaging through his drawers to find something to wear.

"Rin?"

"Good morning, Sousuke."

"What are you doing up?"

"I'm just getting ready for my date."

"Your date."

"Yeah."

"With Ai."

"Uh-huh."

"That's tonight at 7:00."

"Yes. Why?" Sousuke rolled his eyes and flopped back on the bed. "You idiot. It's _6:30 in the morning_! You have over 12 hours." Rin turned back to trying to find something to wear. "I know," he said, "but I really want everything to be perfect." Sousuke climbed out of bed "Whatever. I'm going out, and I probably won't be back until after you leave. Have fun."

At 1:00, Rin was getting desperate. Unsure what to do, and with clothes strewn all over the room, he pulled out his phone and called the first person he thought of.

* * *

"Hey Haru!" Makoto called from the kitchen. They were at his house, babysitting the twins, and Haruka was entertaining them as Makoto cleaned up lunch (they had worked out a deal long ago that Haru made the meals and Makoto cleaned up afterwards. This saved everyone from Makoto's cooking). Haru poked his head through the door, Ren hanging around his neck and Ran on his back. "What is it?" he said, completely unfazed by the squealing children. "Your phone is ringing." Said Makoto, moving forward and taking the twins. "It's Rin." Haru took the phone and gave Makoto a quick, grateful look for taking the kids.

"Rin." he said, putting the phone to his ear. "What do you want?" He listened for a minute, then rolled his eyes. "How should I know? Just wear whatever is most comfortable." He listened again, then huffed and yelled "Makoto?" The other boy came back from setting up a movie for the twins. "What is it?" he asked. Haru gave another eye roll. "Rin needs help with something stupid." Makoto ignored the muffled yell of "I heard that coming from the phone and put it to his ear. "What's wrong, Rin?"

* * *

A couple of hours passed, and Makoto and Haruka were just getting ready to take Ren and Ran to the park when Makoto's phone rang. Haruka grunted in annoyance. "Don't answer if it's Rin. He'll probably just ask more stupid questions." Makoto gave him a scolding look and answered the phone. "Hello. Ai? What is it?" he cupped a hand over the cellphone to block his voice and whispered "Same problem as Rin.". Haru rolled his eyes. Isn't their date still 4 hours away?" he asked. Makoto just smiled. "Their just nervous." he said before returning to his conversation with Ai. "Ok. Calm down. You have plenty of time." Haru shook his head and bent down to help Ran tie her shoe lace. Makoto was far to nice for his own good.

* * *

Ai sighed and fell back on his bed. Makoto had been very helpful, but it was approaching 5:00 and he still hadn't picked an outfit. Momotarou walked in, and, noticing his distress, plopped down nextto him and asked "What's wrong?"

"I don't know what I should wear, and it's almost time to go."

"You have two hours."

"Exactly!" Ai sighed. "I really wanted everything to be perfect, and I can't even decide on what to wear." Momo laughed and got up. "That's the most ridiculous problem I've ever heard. Just wear whatever you want, no one is going to care about your clothes."

"This coming from the guy who spends 3 hours getting ready when there's a chance we might get to see Kou."

"That is completely besides the point. Just wear what you normally do when you guys hang out." Ai nodded. "I know. I just..." he laughed shakily "I'm really nervous."

"Well, don't be."

* * *

At 7:00 exactly, Rin stood outside the door of his old room and messed with the hem of his shirt. For some reason, he was having difficulty finding the courage to knock on the door. Finally, he took a deep breath and raised his hand. "Ai?" he called awkwardly, the seconds feeling like hours. After what seemed like forever, the door opened to reveal Ai, blushing softly. "H-hello Rin-Senpai, I mean... Rin." He stammered. Rin just stood there sheepishly. Ai was just in his normal, every day jeans and t-shirt, nut he looked fantastic. Rin coughed and looked the other way. "You...um...you look really..." He trailed off, gulped and tried again. "You look...erm...you look really good." Ai's blush deepened and he turned his focus to his feet. "Thanks." He said quietly. "You look really good, too." At that point, Rin was fairly certain he couldn't get any redder, so he decided to change the subject. "So, do you want to go to dinner and then maybe a movie?" He asked, bringing his hand up to the back of his neck. Ai nodded, and they turned and walked towards the door.

**Next time(which will be very soon, sorry again): the big date! Please leave a review, and thanks for reading:) **


	11. Chapter 11

**Ok, here it is (and late again! So, sooo sorry!). The story is nearing an end, which I'm pretty sure will happen in the next chapter, but I may do an epilogue or something, because I'm still really sad that the series is over, and am working on a lot of Free! related stuff because of that. **

**I don't own Free!**

"So..." Said Rin awkwardly as they waited for their food to come "How are you?" Nitori blushed for no particular reason and said "Fine, thanks. Um... how are you?" Cue a random blush from Rin "Oh... I'm fine too." The entire night had been like this. An endless back and forth of short sentences with shorter answers, and what seemed like a contest of who could make their face redder. It was completely ridiculous. They had already confessed their love for each other, already known each other for such a long time, already kissed. So why the hell was sitting alone together so uncomfortable?! Ai couldn't figure it out, not that he was trying very hard. He was more focused on preventing his leg from shaking so hard it moved the table and attempting to recall basic phrases any 5 year old could rattle off with ease. Basically, he was a panicky mess.

Rin wasn't doing that much better. His hands shook when he went to pick up his water glass, almost spilling it everywhere, and he was having difficulty remembering his name. "How's your... um... your swimming?" he finally managed, hoping that maybe, _maybe _this could spark an interesting conversation (although the chances of that were slim, since they talked about swimming almost everyday, so they didn't have much more to say in that area). Ai just looked down at his lap. "I think I'm getting better. I'm still not as good as you, though."

"Mmm" Really? That was his big answer? No encouragement, no big, captainy pep talk? Just "Mmm"?! Rin resisted the urge to drop his head onto the table "I mean, your a really hard worker, Ai. You'll get there if you want to." The words sounded pretty stupid to him, but Ai's cheeks went a shade darker and he smiled a bit, so maybe he said the right thing. He hoped he had.

After that thrilling conversation, there was along stretch of silence. So long that their food came. So long that they got halfway through eating it. So long that Rin wanted to scream, but he couldn't think of anything to say.

* * *

Nagisa groaned quietly and slid down into the booth. "I can't watch this anymore." He said defeatedly "Gou-chan, your brother is a total idiot." Kou slid down next to him, too upset to correct him on the pronunciation of her name. "I know." She sighed "It's painful." Suddenly she perked up and smiled. "Maybe there's something we can do!"

"Oh no!" Rei pushed his glasses up his nose and huffed "I let you two talk me into spying on Rin-San and Nitori-San (which is wrong of us, anyway), but I will _not_ let you meddle." Kou and Nagisa exchanged glances, and then Kou turned back to watch her big brother's date while Nagisa leaned forward across the table. "Come on, Rei-Chan!" he whined, giving Rei his best puppy-dog expression "Please? You don't even have to do anything, just leave it all to us!"Rei turned away, determined not to get pulled into another wild scheme, but Nagisa wasn't giving up quite yet. The blonde leaned so far forward he was practically lying on the table and wrapped his arms around the taller boy. "Pleeeeease, Rei-chan?" He said, burying his face in Rei's chest. "It would make me really happy if you said yes." Rei gritted his teeth, trying to hold his ground. Then he made the mistake of looking down. He saw Nagisa's big, beautiful eyes staring up at him, and his shoulders slumped as he felt his resolve crumble "Oh... Alright. But nothing to crazy, and I am _not_ participating, ok? Now please sit properly, Nagisa. Climbing on tables isn't beautiful. Nagisa squealed and hugged Rei tightly "REI- CHAN IS THE BEST!" He crowed, causing the other boy to turn red and shove his glasses up his nose. Then, the breaststroke swimmer slid back to his side of the booth and leaned his head close to Kou's so they could form a plan. Rei sighed. There was never any peace when Nagisa was around.

* * *

The plan Kou and Nagisa came up with wasn't exactly brilliant or subtle, but it got the point across. Nagisa would go up to their table (pretending that he hadn't known they were going to be there) and distract Ai. Then Rei (who had failed to escape involvement) would sneak a note with instructions from Kou to Rin telling him to excuse himself and meet her in the hallway by the bathrooms. There, she would yell at him for making a mess of things, and then set him straight on how to act on a date.

"It's never going to work." said Rei when the other two were finished explaining. "Of COURSE it will, Rei-Chan!" Said Nagisa emphatically "Don't doubt the genius of the plan." Rei rolled his eyes. "It's not at all genius, and I can doubt it all I want because _It will not work!" _Kou sighed. "I suppose we could always go with plan B"

"What's that?"

"Tell him, Nagisa."

"You go up dressed as a waiter taking their order (They won't recognized you 'cause you'll have a fake mustache), then while you have Ai distracted, I swoop in and put an earpiece in Rin's ear so that Kou (who will be sitting over here pretending to read a menu that we secretly cut eye-holes in so she can see everything) can tell him what to do and say."

Rei opened his mouth and closed it again. Finally, with a sigh and a quick push of his glasses, he said "Plan A it is."

* * *

"AI-CHAN! RIN-RIN! I DID NOT SEE YOU SITTING THERE! ARE YOU PERHAPS ON YOUR FIRST DATE WHICH I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BECAUSE GOU-CHAN OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T TELL ME?" Nagisa said in a far to loud, monotone voice that made Kou and Rei cringe. "What are you doing here?" Rin asked, looking slightly annoyed, but also relieved (he would deal with anything, even Nagisa's antics if it meant breaking the awkward silence between him and Ai). Nagisa started his strange, loud monotone again "I WAS JUST STOPPING TO GET SOMETHING TO EAT AT THIS RESTAURANT WHEN I SAW YOU AND CAME TO SAY HELLO. I DID NOT KNOW BEFORE THIS THAT YOU WOULD BE HERE AND THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT WHY I CAME. THIS IS A COMPLETE SURPRISE!" he turned towards Aiichirou and continued "SO, AI-CHAN. WE SHOULD PROBABLY TURN THIS WAY, AWAY FROM RIN SO THAT YOU CAN'T SEE HIM AND TALK." Ai raised an eyebrow "What are you doing, Nagisa?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. THERE IS NO PLAN. I'M JUST TALKING TO YOU."

"Plan?" Nagisa laughed robotically, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead "Ummm..." losing some of his robotic "acting" in his panic, he looked around nervously then yelled "REI-CHAN! HOW SURPRISING TO SEE YOU HERE!" Rei jumped out from behind Rin's chair, where he had been attempting to stealthily plant Kou's note and gave Nagisa a death stare. From her hiding spot in the hallway where she had been planning to talk to her brother, Kou groaned loudly. "Just give it up, guys. Nagisa's bad acting has destroyed everything." Nagisa crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted indignantly. "I am not a bad actor, right Rei-chan?"

"..."

"RIGHT, REI-CHAN?!"

"Yeah... um... sure, Nagisa." Nagisa grinned proudly at Kou. "See, Gou-chan? Rei thinks I'm the best actor in the whole world."

"I never said tha-"

"And anyway, the plan could have worked if you hadn't just given up like that."

"I only gave up because you had already made sure it wouldn't work!"

"I didn't mess up, you did!"

"No, YOU did!"

"No YOU did!"

"No-" the argument was brought to a sudden stop by Rin's fist slamming down on the table. "Look." he said, on the verge of exploding "I don't care who's fault it was. All I want to know is WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Nagisa and Kou both rolled there eyes and Kou said "We were fixing your date before you made a complete idiot of yourself, obviously."

"WHAT?!" Rei raised his hand and said "I was not on board with this. I just wanted to leave and get them to stop spying, but"

"YOU WERE SPYING ON US?!"

"Of course not!" Kou said "We were just... observing from a distance without telling you."

"THAT"S THE SAME THING!"

"IS NOT! BESIDES YOU NEEDED MY HELP! ALL YOU'VE DONE TONIGHT IS SIT THERE AWKWARDLY!" The two siblings stared at each other tensely, ready for a fight, when Ai coughed quietly. He had been watching the action, and although he found it a little amusing, he figured he should probably step in before something serious happened. "Excuse me?" he said "Um, I don't really mind having our date interrupted, but we really need to go now if we want to get to the movie in time. Thank you guys for your concern, but in the future, could you maybe not spy- er, 'observe us from a distance without our knowledge'?" Kou flung her hands up dramatically "Fine!" She said with a heavy sigh "Onii-chan, ruin your relationship if you like! I'm done trying to help you!" Rin started to say something, but Ai's hand tugging his sleeve stopped him, and he turned and stormed out the door. Ai smiled kindly at the others and said "It was nice to see you all. We should get together some time and hang out. Just, you know, _not_ during my dates." And with that, he ran after Rin.

* * *

"RIN" shouted Aiichirou, out of breath "Wait up!" Rin stopped his angry storming long enough to let Nitori get to him. They continued on, Rin's mind still clouded with anger. Then he heard a snort coming from next to him. The snort developed into a breathy giggle, and then finally a full on laugh. He turned to face Ai and said (maybe a little too harshly) "What's so funny." Ai giggled some more and said "Nothing. It's just," he flashed a wide grin at Rin "that was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my life." Rin softened when he saw Ai laugh, and finally, he began to join in. "They are pretty ridiculous, aren't they."

"And your face! You looked like you were seriously contemplating murdering all of them."

"I was!" They both laughed, and slowly the tension that had been felt since the beginning of the night disappeared. "Look, Rin." Ai said when they had both collected themselves "I love being around you. You make me really happy, and I hate that this is so uncomfortable. I don't think it should be, either. We're best friends, and we've known each other for over a year. I want to just talk and be ourselves without worrying about how things are different now that we're... now that we're together." Rin nodded. "I agree. I've been trying so hard tonight to think of things you're supposed to do and say on a date, I ended up just feeling awkward and like I had screwed up."

"So let's stop thinking about it. Let's just... Figure it out as we go along. Just enjoy being together." Rin smiled and took Ai's hand. "I really like that idea."

When they finally reached the theatre and sat down to watch the movie, Ai leaned over and rested his head on Rin's shoulder and Rin wrapped an arm around him. Neither knew what was happening on the screen, they were too happy just being with each other to care.

* * *

Rei and Ai walked to the train after sneaking out of the movie theatre without being seen. "See Rei-chan? The plan worked perfectly!" Nagisa said happily. Rei pushed his glasses up his nose. "That was hardly 'the plan', Nagisa, and I still say we shouldn't have followed them, especially after Nitori-kun specifically told us not to." Nagisa giggled. "You're just annoyed that _you _didn't think of such a brilliant plan."

"It was hardly brilliant. And besides, there are hundreds of other ways you could have done that, easier ways! Why did you have to go with the most ridiculously overcomplicated one possible?!" Nagisa winked "Because it's more fun!" Rei just sighed and nodded, he had been expecting an answer like that.

**The next chapter _should _be up by Wednesday, but I'm not making any promises. **

**Thanks for reading, and please leave a review! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi everybody! I've officially decided to make this the last chapter. I'm sorry it's so short, there just wasn't much more to say. **

**I don't own this fabulous anime, but I wish I did.**

"That was a good movie, wasn't it?" Ai said, skipping next to Rin. "Ummmm... I guess."

"What, you didn't like it?" Rin reached out and grabbed Ai's hand "It's not that, I was just a little distracted." Ai giggled "Me too. We'll have to get better at the whole 'watching a movie' part of watching a movie." Rin laughed "I don't even remember the name of the main character!"

"I do! It was... Well, it started with an H. Or was it a T?"

"I think it was an I" They settled into a comfortable silence, hands swinging between them. Rin took the opportunity to commit the moment to memory, the stars over head, outshone by Nitori's eyes, the way their hands just _fit_, like they were made to go together. He never wanted to forget it.

They reached the school and walked quietly through the halls so as not to disturb their sleeping schoolmates. When they got to Ai's door, Rin turned and and looked down at the younger boy, his gaze soft and filled with love. "I had a really good time tonight." Ai said with a small smile "I mean, minus the beginning." Rin chuckled "Yeah. Besides that it was great. I'm still going to kill those idiots, though."

"Actually, I think we kind of owe them one. They gave us the push we needed to stop being stupid and just enjoy ourselves." Rin sighed over-dramatically "I guess so. But if they do it again, can I kill them?" Ai grinned "If they do it again, I'll help you." Ai glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "We should probably get to bed." he said with a yawn. Rin nodded, although part of him never wanted the night to end. "Alright. Goodnight, Ai." He said and started to leave, when he was stopped by the hand still tightly holding his and the small voice that whispered "Wait." He turned back and his lips were caught by Aiichirou's. As if they had done it a thousand times, they moved in perfect harmony. Rin wrapped his arms around Ai's waist, Ai's hands settled on his shoulders. They both leaned back at the same time to end the kiss, and were left standing happily with their eyes locked. "That's how you say goodnight." Ai whispered with a little smile. Rin leaned forward and gave him one more chaste kiss. "I love you." He said, touching their foreheads together briefly before beginning the walk back to his room. And as he walked away, he heard Ai say "I love you too."

**So, there it is. The end. No more. Thank you so much for reading this story! **


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